Parish Council addresses issue at recent meeting
– The St. Martin Parish Government administration addressed some concerns that had been raised about the St. Martin Parish Animal Shelter, Parish Council Chairman Chris Tauzin told the council at its regular meeting on Dec. 2.
St. Martin Parish Animal Services Coordinator Andrea Mire and veterinarian Dr. Jackie Simon were to address the council about the issues but Mire was unable to attend the meeting, and Tauzin spoke instead.
“We had a few … issues that came up and concerns about the animal shelter,” Tauzin said. “Me and Mr. (Hoyt) Louviere and Miss (Carla) JeanBatiste went out there and looked at some of the stuff. President (Pete) Delcambre was there. I think it was just minor stuff that the administration was able to take care of later. We should be good on the animal shelter.”
“The areas of concern, the veterinarians, we’ve got someone on file, Miss Megan (Simon, also a veterinarian) is on retainer to fill in at whatever times are needed,” Delcambre said. “We’re looking at a third (veterinarian), so with the veterinarian issue taken care of, we should be able to get the adoptions back on track. We will be doing an amendment to add some money to do some needed capital improvements, so that will be oncoming within the course of the year. Mr. Raymond Bernard (parish Director of Administration) is in the process of evaluating the budgets and the money situation to see that the facility can be run in the most efficient process possible.”
The parish president said that the administration is in the process of streamlining the facility so it is run more efficiently.
JeanBatiste thanked Megan Simon for donating a building to be used for sheltering cats.
“We greatly appreciate that,” the councilwoman said. “And for the employees that are here, I want to commend y’all for the work that you do with the animals. It takes an individual that really has the passion to deal with cats as well as the dogs. We greatly appreciate y’all for taking care of them.”
Special business
The parish council held public hearings to listen to public comments about the Year 2026 Sinking Fund and Operating and Maintenance Budgets, and the Year 2026 Parish Capital Outlay Budget, but nobody had any comments and the council later introduced the ordinances for public hearing.
The council also met as a Board of Adjustment and granted an exception to Brandon Northcutt to build a single-family dwelling on property zoned C-1 (Light Commercial) located at 4861 Main Highway, Breaux Bridge.
Shelter
Ordinances introduced The council introduced several ordinances for public hearing, including the Sinking Fund and Operating and Maintenance Budgets, and the Parish Capital Outlay Budget, but nobody had any comments and the council later introduced the ordinances for public hearing.
The council also introduced two ordinances reducing parish servitude rights for two properties in the parish.
There was no public comment on any of the items. The council voted to adopt all ordinances as amended.
Resolutions
The council approved a resolution awarding the contract for 2025 Road Improvements Projects to the lowest responsive bidder, Elliott Construction, for $4,569, 822.50.
The council also approved a resolution authorizing the parish president to execute a contract for services with Larry Doiron LLC for operating the Bayou Milhomme Bridge in Stephensville.
The council approved a resolution authorizing an Intergovernmental Agreement with Lafayette Parish for the cleaning of Lateral Ches Broussard.
Other resolutions passed included one proclaiming January as National Mentoring Month, and resolutions setting the date, time and location for the joint committee meetings, effective in January, and setting meeting dates for the upcoming year.
The council approved a resolution authorizing a change order for an increase of $22,845 for the Box Car Road stabilization and road repairs project by Diverse Solutions.
Another resolution was approved to establish a dedicated capital reserve fund for future capital improvement and infrastructure for the replacement and building of a new parish jail.
